Drivers and export performance impacts of IT capability in ‘born-global’ firms: a cross-national study

Dynamic capabilities in tourism businesses: antecedents and outcomes

This paper examines dynamic capabilities as a second-order construct and the antecedents and outcomes of dynamic capabilities. Analyzing data collected from 242 tourism firms in Vietnam, this paper finds a positive influence of firms’ human capital, organizational learning, environmental dynamism, and digital marketing on the dynamic capabilities. Dynamic capabilities have a significant and positive impact on these firms’ competitive advantage. The paper contributes to ongoing efforts to measure dynamic capabilities and explore the micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities.

A Systematic Literature Review on 30 Years of Empirical Research on Information Systems Business Value

Information Systems Business Value (ISBV) has been a key research topic for the IS research community. While the vast majority of ISBV research demonstrates the positive relationship between IS and firm performance, the fundamental question of the causal relationships between IS and business value remains partly unexplained. Moreover, researchers do not share a unified understanding of ISBV concepts. Therefore, this research intends to synthesize the past 30 years of empirical ISBV research, identify the gaps and shortcomings, conceptualize the ISBV concepts, and propose possibilities for further research that will widen the current narrowly shared ISBV bottom line. We aim to synthesize (1) different operationalization of concepts in existing ISBV research; (2) IS determinants, consequences, and the relations among the variables; (3) the role of contextual factors; and (4) the adopted theoretical views.

Is Facebook an effective tool to access foreign markets? Evidence from international export performance of fashion firms

Social networks are a driving force of digital transformation and offer firms the opportunity to market products and services to both international consumers and providers, establish durable relationships with them, and improve their own competitiveness. The study analyzes the role played by the use of Facebook for online advertising, building interaction and brand communities, implementing social CRM activities, and conducting market research, as well as a sales channel alternative to physical presence, in firms’ international export performance, both in terms of managers’ perceptions and Facebook buy button conversion rate. A survey-based empirical analysis of 105 fashion firms operating worldwide was conducted. The results of multiple regression analyses show that building conversations and brand communities positively affects international export performance, while advertising via Facebook yields mixed results. By comparing firms that have a physical presence with those that do not, the former turned out to benefit from especially in-store advertising and promotions to enhance their Facebook buy button conversion rate; while the latter can improve their performance mainly by adopting outdoor and transit advertising and digital marketing. The research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on social media marketing and international business and, by adopting a firm-level perspective, provides interesting insights for practitioners since it allows to understand how to develop an effective Facebook strategy to succeed in foreign markets.

Information technology competency and organizational agility: roles of absorptive capacity and information intensity

Purpose

Scholars have examined the possible relationship between information technology (IT) and organizational agility. Although the general-level effect of IT is undisputed, empirical research on how different types of IT contribute to various aspects of organizational agility remains scarce. Therefore, this study aims to propose an integrated framework of internal capability and external environment to address this research gap.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates the potential mediating effects of absorptive capacity and the moderating effects of information intensity in the IT‒agility relationship. With a dataset comprising 165 organizations in China, this work provides empirical evidence that the effects of absorptive capacity and information intensity are multifaceted and nuanced, thereby revealing the latent mechanisms of IT competency and organizational agility.

Findings

Absorptive capacity partially mediates the effects of IT knowledge and IT operations on market capitalizing agility and fully mediates their effects on operational adjustment agility. However, no direct or indirect effects of IT objects are found on both types of organizational agility. Information intensity also positively moderates the effects of IT operations and IT objects on absorptive capacity. However, no significant moderation is found with regard to IT operations.

Originality/value

This study provides novel insights by demonstrating clearly the different mediating roles of absorptive capacity in the relationship among various types of IT competency and diverse aspects of organizational agility. This work also underscores the moderating role of information intensity in shaping absorptive capacity through IT competency.

Speed of Use of Social Media as an Antecedent of Speed of Business Internationalization

Despite various advances in international business and entrepreneurship literatures and increasing interest in speed of internationalization mainly among international entrepreneurship scholars, the relationship between the use of social media and the internationalization speed of the firm remains poorly investigated. This article presents the reflective construct “speed of use of social media” and proves its positive effect on the third order formative construct “speed of internationalization.” Furthermore, using multi-group analysis, the article demonstrates that this effect is moderated by the industry where the company performs (business-to-customer vs. business-to-business) and its export intensity, but not by the size of the firm. The results obtained open an interesting area for further research in the role of Web 2.0 and social networking in future knowledge management systems of international new ventures companies.

Roles of dynamic capabilities and knowledge management strategies on organizational performance

The theoretical and practical impact of dynamic capabilities on organizational performance remains elusive. This study investigates the mediating role of a firm’s dynamic capabilities, measured by IT capability and environmental scanning. In addition, by proposing that knowledge management (KM) strategies play a crucial moderating role in the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), dynamic capabilities, and organizational performance, this study highlights the need for effective KM strategies to maximize organizational performance. A questionnaire was administered to Korean managers who understand and can answer overall characteristics of their organizations. Our study found that dynamic capabilities partially mediated the relationship between EO and organizational performance. In addition, our findings show that the relationship between EO and organizational performance is stronger when firms emphasize personalization KM strategies, while the firms focusing on codification KM strategies demonstrate a stronger relationship between IT capability and organizational performance.

Unveiling International New Ventures’ Success: Employee’s Entrepreneurial Behavior

New international ventures have become an important and growing role in the economics of a country. However, it seems that the literature on international entrepreneurship has paid little attention to their employees and their contribution to the success of these firms in international markets. The employee may be a key point in explaining their rapid and fruitful international development, i.e., increasing the international entrepreneurial orientation of the company. Using case study methodology, this investigation aims to unveil the human resource management in international new ventures, complete previous models explaining these organizations, and contribute to a better understanding of their international success. The findings show that the entrepreneurs aim to foster employee entrepreneurial behavior by implementing certain human resource practices.

Entrepreneurially oriented employees and firm performance: mediating effects

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) with a focus on the interplay between the individual and firm level for embedding EO pervasively within organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

Comprising 356 individual employees from five companies collected from June to September 2015, this investigation uses structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results show significant indirect effects from individuals’ EO on firm’s performance, mediated by both individuals’ performance and firm’s EO.

Research limitations/implications

While the construct of EO is strengthened with a multi-level approach, the authors also stress the organisational homogeneity of EO.

Practical implications

Consequently, the EO instrument can be used as a strategic tool to evaluate an individual’s orientation towards entrepreneurship to facilitate firm performance.

Originality/value

Finally, the EO instrument can be used as a strategic tool to evaluate an individual’s orientation towards entrepreneurship to facilitate firm performance.

THE ROLE OF MARKETING-ENABLED DATA ANALYTICS CAPABILITY AND ORGANISATIONAL AGILITY FOR INNOVATION: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM GERMAN FIRMS

Recent shifts in technology have created a data-rich environment and made it necessary for firms to develop new capabilities to cope with these changes. To address this challenge, this study introduces marketing-enabled data analytics capability, a specific type of information technology (IT) capability that enables firms to better understand customer needs and achieve a competitive advantage in the digital era. Using empirical results collected via online survey, we argue that marketing-enabled data analytics capability, which comprises data analytics infrastructure, marketing-oriented analytics expertise, and IT–marketing social capital, positively influences a firm’s organisational agility and innovation success. Moreover, the results show that organisational agility partially mediates the relationship between marketing-enabled data analytics capability and innovation success. By developing the construct of marketing-enabled data analytics capability, this paper lays a foundation for future research on this new type of IT capability, which is critical in the digitization process.

Research on IT in China: A Call for Greater Contextualization

Research on information technologies (IT) in China has gained increasing attention in the international information systems (IS) community. This study systematically reviews papers on IT in China published in the ‘Senior Scholars’ Basket of Journals’ from 2000 to 2013. We have two specific objectives: to identify key research issues and trends, and to propose future directions for research on IT in China. This paper categorizes the global distribution of authors and their research methods. Five research streams are identified, including human behaviors in IS adoption and use, IS management, e-Business, social media, digital collaborations and group support, and industry and societal issues in IS. While each stream is examined in detail, we specifically pay attention to the effect of the Chinese context in each paper and the approaches to contextualizing the research. On the basis of our findings from the literature review, we propose a focus on the Chinese context as guidance for future research.